Why authenticity in social media helps attract international students
By Kate Williams
As higher education institutions strive to attract students from diverse backgrounds, it’s vital to come across as genuine, relatable and authentic. Especially when communicating with today’s savvy youth who can smell a fake a mile off.
In an age where consumers crave realness over polished perfection, authenticity fosters trust, sets brands apart and encourages deeper engagement.
But what does authenticity in social media look like?
In this post, we’ll look at how to be authentic on social media and why it’s so important, including a few examples from brands that are nailing it.
Let’s dive in.
What is authenticity in social media and why is it important?
Authenticity is all about whether your customers perceive your brand as being true to itself and to them and able to support them in being true to themselves.
It’s the key to ensuring your brand story serves its purpose: to connect with your target audience on an emotional level.
“In social media content creation, authenticity comes from your values, a true representation of your core service and the opinions your team holds. Authenticity is not performative or demagogic. Instead, you should aim to connect truthfully with your clients, and potentially even repel those you don’t want to attract.” — George Chilton, Managing Creative Director, Hubbub Labs
Here’s how being authentic benefits your brand and institution:
- Builds trust and credibility: These days, the role of trust and authenticity in social media marketing is more important than love for your brand. In fact, it’s the third most important factor in driving people to buy from and advocate for you. When you present your institution honestly, sharing real stories of student experiences or campus life, it’ll resonate more with prospective students. For those considering studying abroad and, therefore, being out of their comfort zone, that trust is even more important.
- Sets you apart: These days, being authentic often means showing the real, warts-and-all version of your brand to the world. While that may sound scary, in the age of unattainable influencer perfection and AI-generated content, consumers often crave a bit of reality.
- Fosters engagement and connection: People are more likely to engage with content that feels real and relatable, so it encourages a deeper connection and helps build community.
Of course, being authentic requires a deep understanding of and affinity with your audience. And that means you need to talk to them — a lot! Fortunately, in higher education you have lots of opportunities to do this. You can talk to students themselves, their counsellors or student advisors, student union reps, lecturers, international student agents and even parents.
6 ways to be authentic on social media
Once you’ve gained a thorough understanding of your target market, here’s how to create authentic content that will resonate with them.
1. Share real stories
Sharing genuine stories that lift the lid on campus life helps create a more relatable, authentic picture of your institution.
Testimonials, day-in-the-life videos, student journeys and ‘where-are-they-now’ tales all give prospective students a glimpse into campus life. This makes it easier for them to imagine themselves living and studying there. Plus, when they arrive, they’ll already feel more at home.
As an example, Edinburgh University encourages students to share insider tips on student and city life, so prospective students know what to expect.
2. Feature real voices
The best thing is, you don’t have to create all this content yourself! Take advantage of user-generated content by asking students, faculty and alumni to weigh in and share the latest cool thing they’re doing in the classroom — or outside of it. You could even set up an online open house run by students and broadcast it on your YouTube channel.
Encouraging your community to share their experiences using specific hashtags or through social media challenges provides diverse perspectives. It also helps prospective international students connect to real voices, enhancing your authenticity.
Check out how USC Gould puts this into practice by letting students take over its social media accounts for a day.
Another way to feature real voices on your social media is to work with student nano-influencers. These are current or former students with small but highly engaged followings. They’re adept at creating authentic, relatable content that resonates strongly with prospective students. They also have valuable insider knowledge about campus life, local culture and academic experiences, which prospective students will value. Importantly, their content comes across as genuine recommendations from trusted friends rather than polished institutional ads.
Check out this article on how you can work with Nano-influencers in your higher education institution to learn more about the authenticity of social media influencers.
3. Be consistent
Authenticity requires consistency in messaging and tone across different social media platforms. This ensures your institution’s values and identity are clearly communicated and reinforced, which makes them more authentic and believable. It also makes it easier for prospective students to understand what your institution stands for
Make sure your social media team knows your brand pillars and can articulate what they look like in practice. Scrap any content related to any brand pillars that aren’t enacted in real life. Walking the walk is more important than talking the talk!
For example, if your institution prides itself on sustainability, share regular updates about recycling initiatives, student-led clean-ups, efforts to reduce energy consumption, etc. If, however, you’re not doing anything like that, then don’t mention it or it’ll come across as greenwashing.
4. Don’t strive for perfection
Being authentic means not shying away from your institution’s imperfections and challenges. Plus, if you’re asking community members to share their experiences you can’t insist on a professional level of polish on everything, or try to censor what they say. Being transparent resonates more with prospective students and helps build trust, as it shows that you’re open and honest about your strengths and weaknesses.
As an example, look at how low-budget airline Ryanair sends itself – and its customers – up on its TikTok channel. The famously low-cost company makes fun of its own failings and its customers’ expectations:
It’s a bold strategy that’s not for everyone, but it’s incredibly successful when it comes to authenticity.
5. Engage with your audience
A good rule of thumb with social media is to behave as you would in real life. After all, you wouldn’t be introduced to someone at a party and only talk about yourself, would you? It’s the same on social media. Authentic presence means actively interacting and engaging with your audience, and asking for their opinions.
There’s a variety of ways to do this, including live Q&A sessions, polls & surveys and live campus tours where attendees can ask questions. All this fosters a sense of community and makes your institution seem more approachable. You can also take part in online forums and communities where students gather, like Reddit or Discord.
Finally, don’t forget to be on top of comments and direct messages and answer them in a personalised, timely manner. Leaving them unanswered sends a clear message that you don’t really care, which can undermine all your hard work.
6. Don’t be a try-hard
Sometimes, brands tell stories that don’t work because they come off as inauthentic. There’s something about them that just screams “fake!”
Often this happens because they’re simply trying too hard to come across as something they’re not. For example, just look at this post from petrol company Shell trying to get in on the energy debate, which falls wide of the mark.
Or check out these very ads from fake-meat brand Heura and Miracle Whip. They’re almost identical, but one manages to come over as fresh and edgy while the other is unconvincing. We’ll let you decide which…
Heura
Miracle Whip
Authenticity and social media: the key to attracting international student
In a world where we’re bombarded with content and ads, it’s vital to make your brand stand out from the noise. One way to do that is by being authentic, real and vulnerable, which people increasingly crave. If you can walk the walk, it helps build trust with prospective international students, which is vital when they’re making decisions about where to study.
By sharing real stories, being consistent and embracing imperfections, you can create relatable content that resonates deeply with your audience. Engaging actively with your community and showcasing diverse voices also helps people connect on an emotional level.
Authenticity can be scary at first as it demands you let go of perfection. But, if you can do it, you can build loyalty to your brand and an engaged online community that others will want to join.